AweMUD Next Generation
Copyright (C) 2002,2003  AwesomePlay Productions, Inc.
Sean Middleditch <elanthis@awesomeplay.com>
Basic AweMUD NG Information
------------------------------------------------------


1. Introduction
   ============
   AweMUD NG is a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) game server.  Players connect to the
   server using telnet, or a MUD client application, to play in a fantasy world
   with other players.

   AweMUD NG is a new codebase; it is not derived from any older codebases like
   many other popular MUDs.  One consequence of this is that many terms and
   systems found in most other MUDs are different in AweMUD.

   The Scriptix scripting language is used to extending and modifying the
   engine core features.


2. Documentation
   =============
   The files in the doc/ directory contain lots of useful information.  If you
   received AweMUD in a pre-packaged form, there should be both plain text and
   HTML versions of all the documents.  If those files are not present, and you
   have tools for DocBook XML processing installed, the files will be built
   when you run 'make'.

   In particular, building and installation instructions can be found in the
   admin guide (e.g. doc/admin.txt), along with basic configuration details.

   Useful guides for players (who probably won't even be reading this file), an
   administration guide, FAQ file, scripting API reference (for the AweMUD-
   specific APIs), and more are located in doc/.

   Please note that the coders tend to get out of sync with the document
   writers (even when they are usually the same person), and the documents
   often lag behind the code.


3. Support
   =======
   If the documentation doesn't provide an answer, or just confused you more,
   you can find support in several place.  The AweMUD website
   (http://www.awemud.net) has both user forums and a bug tracking system.  The
   website also has information on the AweMUD mailing lists.  You can also
   (occasionally) find people in the #awemud channel on the FreeNode IRC
   network.


4. Upgrading
   =========
   If you are upgrading from a previous AweMUD release, please keep these
   points in mind:

   * Be warned that 'make install' will overwrite several key files in the
     target directory, including awemud.conf, and all the files in data/*.  You
     should back up your modified copies, or manually install the AweMUD files
     you wish to upgrade.
   * Read the ChangeLog and script documentation before running the new AweMUD
     with your old scripts.  Pre-1.0 AweMUD releases are very likely to change
     the API exposed the scripts.  Also, many AweMUD releases will require a
     new version of Scriptix; Pre-1.0 Scriptix releases may even have a change
     of syntax or behaviour.
   * Data files may very likely need to be modified, converted, or flat out
     rewritten.  While we try to stay compatible between pre-1.0 release, it
     doesn't make sense to limit development of features for compatibility
     reasons in alpha software.


5. Legal
   =====
   AweMUD comes with no warranty.  If something bad happens to you because of
   your use of AweMUD, we (the authors, distributors, builders, and testers)
   are not responsible for your misfortune and/or mistakes.  See the disclaimer
   section below.

   AweMUD is licensed under the BSD license.  See the COPYING file for more
   details.  As a summary, the BSD license gives you rights to do whatever you
   want with the code.  Note: you can NOT change the license of our code, or
   modify copyrights.  Our code is our code, and it is released under the BSD
   license - end of story.  You can, however, add new code or modify existing
   code.  Any code you write is yours, and licensed under whichever license you
   choose - end of story.  The BSD license grants you the right to distribute
   binaries; the license does NOT guarantee receivers of the binaries rights to
   the source code, original or modified.  The BSD license is ideal if you wish
   to release a modified codebase in a commercial setting.

   We do appreciate being given credit if you distribute binaries, but it is
   not legally required.


6. Disclaimer
   ==========
   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
   AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
   IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
   ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
   ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
   DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
   SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
   CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
   LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
   OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
   DAMAGE.
